Alert! The shortlist for the Brunel University African Poetry Prize has been announced. The list includes Kenyan-born Somali poet Warsan Shire, who achieved a level of fame after her poem “For Women Who Are Difficult to Love” went viral. She has also published a pamphlet of poems called Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth. The other poets shortlisted are Peter Akinlabi from Nigeria, Viola Allo from Cameroon, Lena Bezawork Grönlund from Ethiopia, Kayo Chingonyi from Zambia and Chielozona Eze from Nigeria.

The Brunel University African Poetry Prize is a major new poetry prize of £3000 aimed at the development, celebration and promotion of poetry from Africa. The prize is sponsored by Brunel University and partnered by Commonwealth Writers, the Africa Centre UK, and the African Poetry Book Fund USA.

The judges of the Prize have now decided on a shortlist for the prize which is for immediate release.